Hello!
Here's what happened today in European Tech.
Deals
- Israeli-British investment platform eToro is set to merge with a SPAC after years of speculation about the fintech firm going public. The company is merging with Betsy Z. Cohen-led SPAC FinTech Acquisition Corp. V, and the listing will give eToro a valuation of around $10.4 billion.
- Fresh off a number of recent acquisitions, London-based payments provider SumUp has raised €750 million. The round saw participation from existing backers Goldman Sachs, and Bain Capital Credit.
- Denmark-born consumer-review site Trustpilot’s London listing is set to raise as much as $600 million, a sale that may help lift the UK to its biggest ever first quarter for IPOs.
- Two months after showcasing its first-generation 5-minute-charge battery, Israeli company StoreDot is in negotiations to merge with a Wall Street SPAC at a $3.5 billion valuation, according to sources who spoke to Calcalist.
- Vienna, Austria-based fintech scale-up Bitpanda, which provides a brokering/exchange platform for trading digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and precious metals, has closed a Series B round of $170 million, giving it a ‘unicorn’ valuation of $1.2 billion.
- Canada-based Inovia Capital has closed a second fund totalling $450 million and has confirmed its increased interest in the European marketplace. The London-based team will be led by Patrick Pichette, a figure who’s previously chaired the board of Twitter and Lightspeed.
- Israel-based Overwolf, which has built a popular platform for gaming fans to build modifications and additional tools for all kinds of PC games, announced $52.5 million in growth funding and the launch of a new content creation SDK.
- Israeli digital commerce solution for grocers developer Stor.ai today announced that it has raised $21 million in an extended Series A round.
- Munich-based e-bike reseller Rebike Mobility, which operates ebike-abo.de and rebike.de, has closed a €10 million Series B round.
- Richard Branson's Virgin Group has invested an undisclosed amount in UK-based self-driving car tech firm Wayve, which is building artificial intelligence it says is capable of driving in any urban environment.
- We also tracked a large number of (other) European tech funding rounds and M&A transactions, all of which we are putting in a handy list for you on Friday afternoon in our weekly roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only). Also check out our European tech news section for ongoing coverage.
Worth Reading/Knowing
- The European Council today adopted its first reading position on Horizon Europe, the EU’s multi-annual framework programme for research and innovation for the years 2021 to 2027, approving its €95.5 billion total budget.
- UK tech startups raised a record $15 billion from venture capitalists in 2020, widening its gap with Germany and France, according to a report from government-funded lobby group Tech Nation.
- European startup CEOs and founders in a letter have urged member states to adopt the EU’s proposed Startup Nations Standard.
- Shared micro-mobility startup Bird said it is investing $150 million into a European expansion plan that will include launching in more than 50 cities this year, a move that it says will double its footprint in the region.
- Nokia will cut as many as 10,000 jobs in the coming years so it can invest more to catch up in the race to win orders for 5G networks.
- The Dutch Food Delivery King Is Coming to America.
- Opera has hired PayPal and WeChat Pay veteran Allen Hu to run its recently launched fintech arm, Dify.
- Starting next month, Apple will allow the Russian government to pre-install apps on iPhones, iPads, and possibly other devices like Macs in future.
Today's Top Tweets
🦄 And... another portfolio company going public: @Trustpilot. Europe is on a mission to list tech giants.
👏 So proud to be early investors since leading their Series A in 2011. Congrats @Peter_Muhlmann and team!https://t.co/RrJVse4rpZ c/@jeppezink— Northzone (@northzoneVC) March 16, 2021
1/ At $31bn @Klarna Europe's most valuable start up - its scaling took time but like all good things its success is compounding. My relationship with Klarna started 9 years ago when we @atomico invested into the firm. It was an untraditional transaction & I love driving those.
— Mattias Ljungman (@Ljungman) March 16, 2021
1/ Today I welcome two inspiring operators as the @Wise board members:
🇸🇬 Hooi Ling Tan - the co-founder of @GrabSG
🇬🇧 Clare Gilmartin - until recently the CEO of @thetrainline
But why? And how do we think about who should be on our board? pic.twitter.com/VtAVPIvPi1— Kristo Käärmann (@kaarmann) March 16, 2021
We’re very pleased that @dr_fiona, managing partner at @CristaGalliVC, has also agreed to join us for our presentation and conversation about the future of the digital health industry in Europe!
Join us tomorrow for free learnings and insights ;)
>> https://t.co/PC942RoSd1 pic.twitter.com/lWBacoEV5t— tech.eu (@tech_eu) March 16, 2021
Exclusive: Rezolve, the mobile commerce venture founded by the controversial entrepreneur Dan Wagner, is selling a $20m stake in the business at a $750m valuation - with the UK taxpayer participating through the government's Future Fund. https://t.co/Lh81xtE1rY
— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) March 16, 2021
🚨🎉The Tech Nation Report 2021 is out!
We lift the lid on an extraordinary 2020, revealing investment booms across all regions, shifts towards healthtech, climate tech & impact tech, & remarkable pandemic stories from UK entrepreneurs #WeAreTechNationhttps://t.co/AoqJIb41dA pic.twitter.com/gRrGyCFYz9— Tech Nation (@TechNation) March 16, 2021
The @EUCouncil approved #HorizonEU with €95.5bn! #EUmissions will tackle global challenges, @EUeic will boost SMEs & start-ups, new partnerships will take industry to the next level.
Grateful to Member States for great work & looking forward to final step with @Europarl_EN https://t.co/Aj5ZfXpQCy pic.twitter.com/epccFubcnD— Jean-Eric Paquet (@JEPaquetEU) March 16, 2021
Incredible to see the continuing speed of innovation by the @Zalando team, targeting 30bn GMV by 2025 (10% of the EU fashion market), opening 8 new markets in 2021/2. Big steps forward on sustainability. Astrid Arndt joining the board! Exciting times 🚀👠👕🔥#ZAL @Zalando_Press
— Filip Dames (@filipdames) March 16, 2021
How Germany deals with ownership and equity for startup founders, investors & employees is a disaster.
At all stages and in everything from foundation through participation and investment to employee engagement.
And yet we have a great ecosystem. Just imagine what’s possible... https://t.co/FryGxdfUgl— Philipp Moehring (@pmoe) March 16, 2021
Interested in #DigitalHealth challenges and solutions? Then join @nathrath and leading #Healthtech speakers in @tech_eu's panel discussion on Wednesday. 📌 https://t.co/PNyDS32bXh pic.twitter.com/QX1fDw22I3
— Ada (@adahealth) March 16, 2021
🗣️-2⃣ to the launch of the new @EUeic!🚨
With a €10 billion budget for the 2021-2027 period, #SMEs & #startups across Europe will be able to take their disruptive #innovations to the next level! 🚀
📅18 March
The event will be webstreamed live! 🎥👉 https://t.co/KwZtgJzaDE pic.twitter.com/DpSRqQXyP8— Enterprise Europe Network 🇪🇺 (@EEN_EU) March 16, 2021
After closing the transaction in relation to Woowa earlier this month, Delivery Hero today shares details on Woowa’s strong 2020 performance:
729 million orders
+73% GMV growth
+102% revenue growth
Read more: https://t.co/Lb9Ck2AzTN#deliveryhero #likeheroes #woowa— Delivery Hero (@deliveryherocom) March 16, 2021
Amazon has opened a second Fresh supermarket in London, this time in Wembley Park. Genius placement, in that it's directly outside the stadium and Wembley Arena. Huge footfalls on event days.https://t.co/tyDjLrhK3r
— Matt Brian (@m4tt) March 16, 2021
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